Means for recording moving cars



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G. KEHR. MEANS FOR RECORDING MOVING (BARS. No. 484,085; 7 Patented Aug. 12, 1890.

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MEANS FOR RECORDING MOVING CARS; No. 434,085. Patented Au .-12, 1890.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CYRUS KEI-IR, OF IVINNETKA, ILLINOIS.

MEANS FOR RECORDING MOVING CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 434,085, dated August 12, 1890. Application filed November 16 1889- Serial No. 330,565. (No model-)1 To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CYRUS KEHR, a citizen of the United States, residing at WVinnetka, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Systems for Recording Moving Cars; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accolnpanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to asystem by which the initials and numbers of moving cars may be recorded.

The object is to take the initials and numbers as the cars pass certain points-as, for example, in leaving or entering a city, or in leaving or entering upon a new division of the railroad. It is intended by this means to form accurate information of the whereabout of the cars of all grades used by the railroads. The system is also designed to SllOW the make-up of each passing train, the engine and all the cars being shown in the orderwhich they occupy in the train. At present some railroad companies station a man at a point where all trains of that division necessarily pass. The duty of this man is to note on paper by hand the initials and numbers of as many cars as he is able to take while the trains pass. Experience has shown that this man can take only a portion of the passing cars, and is always liable to error in Writing the numbers and initials. Moreover, he can only work where there is sufficient light to read the initials and numbers on the cars. WVhile a train moves rapidly by he is unable to record any considerable portion of the train. The system which I have devised is designed to operate automatically, or almost Wholly so, and make an impression of the initials and numbers of all cars and engines upon a suitable surface.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of three cars joined as in a train. Fig. 2 shows a car in transverse section and shows a side elevation of the apparatus for taking the impression. Fig. 3 shows one of the number-plates. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section illustrating the apparatus for taking the impression. Fig. 5 is a vertical section in line m 00 of Fig. 4, the portion of the car to which the nu inber-plate is attached being shown.

In said drawings, A A are the cars.

B is a number-plate. This bears the numher or initials of the car, as indicated in Fig. 3. These numbers may be formed in relieflike type, with broad faces for making an impression by means of coloring-matter, or they may be in relief with sharp outlines for making an indentation in a suitable surface on the recording apparatus, or they may be depressed so that the surface around them will print in color, or fitted to the apparatus to mold the letters and figures in relief on a suitable plastic surface controlled by the recording apparatus. These plates are to be arranged upon the cars at the same vertical and lateral distance from the rail R and below or outside of any other portions of the car which might interfere with the recording apparatus. The drawings show these plates arranged below the outer side of the car with the face bearing the numbers directedfownward.

G is a roller so supported from the ground as to reach up against the bottom of each plate 13 as it passes by. This roller may itself have a yielding surface to receive indentations from each number-plate, so that after the train has passed its cars will be registered upon the surface of said roller, or a band, as 0, maybe placed around said roller for each train and receive the impressions of the number-plates as the train passes. It is obvious that if the train moves in the direct-ion 0f the arrow in Fig. 5 the roller will be turned by the moving plate B, so that each plate will make its impression upon a separate portion of the surface of the roller or the band applied to such roller; and it is also obvious that the impressions of the different cars will stand upon the roller or the band in the order occupied by the cars in the train. The roller C is preferably mounted on an ordinary yielding support, in order that it may accommodate itself in a vertical direction to the variations in the height of the plates on the dif= ferent cars due to swaying or unequal loads. This is accomplished by the apparatus shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

D is a horizontal rock-shaft arranged at right angles to the railroad-track and supported in bearings D D At the end nearest the track said rock-shaft is provided with a laterally-directed arm D at the outer end of which is a spindle D extending through the axis of the roller 0. At its end farthest from the track said rock-shaft may have a horizontal lateral arm D extending in the direction opposite the arm D and a weight D applied to the free end of said arm D will counterbalance the roller 0 and hold it up in the path of the plates 13. The roller C may also be held up in the path of the plates B by means of a coiled spring D secured to the rock-shaft at d and some fixed portion of the apparatus, as d The tension of this spring should be such as to hold the roller C up at the desired elevation,but allow the latter to yield somewhat as the plate B passes over it. A ratchet-wheel 0 maybe applied to the side and around the axis of the roller 0, and provided with a pawl c, mounted upon the arm D The function of said ratchetwheel and pawl is to prevent the reeoiling or reverse movement of the roller 0. It will be seen that the roller 0 may also be supported in a yielding manner by being mounted in vertical-guides and a suitable application of springs and weights. The impression of the number-plates B may also be made upon a long ribbon of paper or a woven fabric by means of eoloring-matteras, for example, ink or the carbon of what is known as carbon-paper.

E is a roller mounted upon the free end of the rock-shaft D, nearest the track, and upon this may be wound a long paper or ribbon E. This ribbon may be held over the upper surface of the roller 0, so as to come into contact with the plates 13. As these plates pass, they engage the ribbon and the roller and make an impression upon said ribbon. The roller E may be mounted elsewhere than on the rock-shaft D. Two such rollers may be usedone for the paper ribbon E and the other for a ribbon bearing color; or the paper and the color ribbons may be Wound together upon the same roller. Several ribbons may be used, when desired, so that the record is produced in manifold, a copy being made, for example, for the general superintendent, general freight agent, division superintendent, division freight agent, division passenger agent, and the car accountant.

The apparatus may be arranged to operate automatically for a considerable time without an attendant, or the attendant may be present to insure the accurate operation of the apparatus, and to remove from the apparatus the record of each train as soon as made.

The apparatus may be provided with supporting-wheels F, and mounted upon a track G, arranged at right angles to the rails R, 011 v which the cars A A move. Upon this track G the apparatus may be moved back and forth by the attendant, as may be required in its care and operation. At its end toward the rail R the track G should have a stop G, to limit the movement of the apparatus toward the moving ears, said stop being so located as to allow the roller 0 to move toward the car until it rests under the number-plate and no farther. By this means it may be made impossible for the apparatus to come into contact with the trucks of the car. Where trains pass frequently it may be desirable to have two sets of the apparatus, so that one may stand in position for recording while the other is being supplied with new rolls or ribbons.

The apparatus may also be arranged to slide on the way G instead of rolling by means of wheels F. The roller 0 may also be withdrawn from the path of the numberplates by drawing the rock-shaft D, through the bearings D and D away from the ears or track. For this purpose the shaft D may be without shoulders at said bearings. It will be seen that if the spring D is used, as shown in Fig. 4, the shaft may be drawn away from the track, the spring D being compressed to permit the movement of said shaft. In this case the spring may also serve to return the roller 0 to its limit toward the track.

Numerous features necessarily mentioned, but which cannot be claimed herein, will be made the subject-matter of other applications for Letters Patent.

I claim as my invention 1. In a system for recording moving cars, number-plates applied to the cars at a chosen distance and direction from one of the rails of the railroad-track, and a yielding roller suitably located to make contact with said number-plates and take impressions from said number-plates, substantially as shown and described.

2. In a system for recording moving cars, number-plates applied to the cars at a chosen distance from the track, a yielding roller arranged to make contact with said numberplates, and a roller for receiving a ribbon to pass over said yielding roller and receive impressions from the number-plates, substantially as shown and described.

3. In a system for recording moving cars, number-plates applied to the cars at a chosen distance from the track, a yielding roller arranged to make contact with said numberplates, a band bearing coloring-matter extending over the surface of said yielding roller, and a roller for receiving a band to extend over said yielding roller and receive colored impressions as the number-plates pass over said roller and said bands, substantially as shown and described.

4. In a system for recording moving cars, number-plates applied to the cars at a chosen distance from the track, a yielding roller arranged to make contact wit-h the numberplates and provided with means for preventing its recoil or reverse movement, substantially as shown and described.

5. In a system for recording moving cars, number-plates applied to one of the cars at a chosen distance from the track, a yielding roller mounted in a way at right angles to the track upon which the carsmove,whereby said roller may be shifted at right angles to said track into or out of the path of said numberplatcs, substantially as shown and described.

6. In a system for recording moving cars, number-plates applied to the car at a chosen distance from the track, a rock-shaft suitably mounted and having a laterally-directed arm, a roller (J, mounted upon said laterally-directed arm, and a spring or its equivalent for holding said shaft and arm in such position as to bring said roller into the path of said number-plates, substantially as shown and described.

7. In a system for recording moving cars, number-plates applied to the cars at a chosen distance from the track, a suitably-mounted rock-shaft D, a spring D orit-s equivalent applied to said rock-shaft to hold it in a chosen position, an arm D extending laterally from said rock-shaft, a spindle D extending from said arm in a direction parallel to said rockshaft, a roller 0, mounted upon said spindle D and extending into the path of said numberplates, substantially as shown and described.

8. In a system for recording moving cars, number-plates applied to said cars at a chosen distance from the track, a suitably-mounted rock-shaft D, a spring D an arm D extendin g laterally from said shaft D, a spindle D extending from said arm D in a direction parallel to said rock-shaft, a roller O,mounted upon said spindle D and extending into the path of said number-plates, a ratchetwheel 0, joined to said roller 0, and a pawl c, mounted upon said arm D and arranged to engage said ratchet-wheel c, substantially as shown and described.

9. In a system for recording moving cars, number-plates applied to the cars at a chosen distance from the track, a rock-shaft D, a spring D a roller axially in line with said rock-shaft, and a roller 0, supported upon an arm extending laterally from said shaft D and extending into the path of said numberplates, said rollers being in the same plane at right angles to said rock-shaft, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses, this 13th day of November, in the year 1889.

CYRUS KEHR.

Witnesses:

AMBROSE RIsDoN, FRANK L. STEVENS. 

